Leave Salary – Person terminated during probation

08/11/2015

I am a regular reader of the Arab Times and the Legal Clinic is very useful for expatriates like me. I have a query related to leave salary if a person is terminated during probation.

I was terminated during the third month of my probation period. I would like to know if I am entitled to a payment against the leave I have accumulated during my probation? In my case it would be above 5 days. If yes, what is the reference article number in the Kuwait Labor Law that I need to show to the employer.

Since my monthly salary was high this is quite a considerable amount which was not paid although the indemnity amount and the salary for the days I worked during the month was paid.

Appreciate if you could provide me with an answer and a reference in Kuwait Labor Law as well.

Name withheld Answer: The problem is that employers read only the first few lines of Article 70 and totally ignore the last sentence which says, “The worker shall be entitled to a leave for the fractions of the year in proportion to the period he spent in actual service, even the first year of service”.

The question of the “9 months service” issue comes only when the service is continuing and a person has not been terminated.

So, if a person is continuing in service and wants to go on annual leave he won’t be paid for the duration unless he completes at least nine months in the job.

On the other hand, if his services are terminated he must be paid for the annual leave he has accumulated regardless of the fact that he has served less than nine months.